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Small Towns and China's Urbanization Level*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 February 2009

Yok-shiu F. Lee
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Extract

China's de jure urbanization level more than doubled in the five years between 1982 and 1987, jumping from 20.8 per cent to 46 6 per cent (Table 1). The Chinese State Statistical Bureau (SSB) officials explained that this unprecedented increase was largely the result of an increase in the number of urban towns since the mid 1984 relaxation of criteria for urban town designation.1 This is, however, only a partial explanation. My own analysis shows that much of the gain in the town population was in fact due to the post-1984 governing system of“town administering village” (zhen guan cun). Many newly designated urban towns (and some existing towns as well) have enlarged their administrative territories to include a huge number of agricultural residents in their official urban population. Most of these rural persons, however, judged by strict occupational and residential criteria, should not have been counted as urban population. The inclusion of many agricultural persons in the urban sector since mid 1984 has thus greatly exaggerated the actual urbanization level.2

Type
Research Article
Information
The China Quarterly , Volume 120 , December 1989 , pp. 771 - 786
Copyright
Copyright © The China Quarterly 1989

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References

1. Zhongguo tongji nianjian 1988 (China's Statistical Yearbook 1988; hereafter ZGTJNJ 1988), p. 97.

2. Many cities have expanded their administrative boundaries to include suburban counties and counted the rural residents as official urban population. This practice, known as“city administering county” (shi guan xian) has led to an increase of the dejure urbanization level. My concern here is primarily with the urban town population component of the urbanization level, and I do not discuss in great detail the city population component of the urbanization level. For the latest discussion on the overall urbanization level issue, read Judith Banister,“Urban-rural population projections for China” (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Bureau of the Census, 1986); Chan Kam-wingand Xu Xueqiang, “Urban population growth and urbanization in China since 1949: reconstructing a baseline,” The China Quarterly, No. 104 (1985), pp. 583–613; and Laurence Ma and Cui Gong-hao,“Administrative changes and urban population in China,” Annals of the Association of American Geographers (1987), pp. 373–95.Google Scholar

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7. To avoid confusion, in the following discussion, I reserve“county towns” exclusively to mean designated towns that are not county seats.

8. The former figure is from Mengbai, Li,“The outlook of our country's urban development,” Chengxiang jianshe (Urban Rural Construction; CXJS), No. 12 (1983), p. 16. The latter figure is from Beijing Review, No. 21 (1984), p. 25.Google Scholar

9. Before 1983, undesignated towns were popularly called commune towns (gongshe jizhen).

10. Renmin ribao (People's Daily), 5 June 1984; Zheng Zhonghan, Jianshe haoshehuizhuyi xiaochengzhen (To Construct Socialist Small Towns) (Jiangsu: Jiangsu renmin chubanshe, 1984), p. 4; Tang Wenxiang,“A discussion on the balance of labor power,” p. 19; Wu Guobin, “There is a bright future for small town construction,” Jingji guanli (Economic Management), No. 5 (1981), p. V-36; Wang Yuzhao,“To develop a new era in constructing small towns,” Jingji gongzuozhe xuexi ziliao (Study Materials for Economists), No. 2 (1985), p. 41; Baoding, Xue,“Small towns need a new policy,” Jianghuai luntan (Jianghuai Forum), No. 3 (1984), p. 15;Google ScholarRuo, Wang,“On the problem of developing and constructing small market towns,” Jingji wenti tansuo (Inquiry Into Economic Problems; JJWTT), No. 7 (1985), pp. 23–24.Google Scholar

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13. Non agricultural population is an administrative concept used in China to classify the population. It has been used to represent-but is not the equivalent of-the urban population. Non-agricultural population are entitled to more rationed goods and food than the agricultural population. The state also provides“commodity grain” (shangpin liang) exclusively to the non-agricultural population.

14. Chan and Xu,“Urban population growth and urbanization in China, pp. 592–93.

15. Zhang Wudong,“Several problems of cities and towns,” Jingji dili (Economic Geography; JJDL), No. 3 (1983), p. 220.

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17. Renmin ribao, 5 June 1984.

18. GWYGB, No. 30(1984), pp. 1012–1014.

19. Ibid.

20. Xu Hua-dong et al., “The problem of small town designation,” CXJS, No. 2(1985), p. 34.

21. Ibid.

22. Ibid.

23. Wu Xuewei,“An analysis of our country's urbanization level,” Chengshi guihua (City Planning Review), No. 2 (1983), p. 25.

24. GWYGB, No. 30 (1984), pp. 1012–1013. The central government's reservation about a speedy proliferation of designated towns was based upon some genuine concerns. They are: the limited supply of capital for infrastructure investment and job creation; the limited supply of skilled administrative and planning personnel at the local level; the danger of indiscriminate conversion of the already meagre agricultural land into town-building purposes; the problem of supplying grain to an expanding non- agricultural population; and the risk that the town-building and other related efforts may impede the growth of agricultural production.

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31. Fang Ming, personal communication with author, 1986. Mr Fang is a researcher with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and has written on the subject of small towns in China.

32. Zhang, Yu,“On the question of capital for rural small town construction,” Caizheng (Finance), No. 3 (1985), p. 27Google Scholar; Bu Juecha,“An inquiry into the construction of county towns and rural market towns,” CXJS, No. 12 (1983), p. 21; and Panqing, Zhao and Shouzheng, Zhang,“The effect of rural and urban reforms on small town development,” Xiaochengzhen, xinkaituo (Small Towns; New Development) Jiangsu: Jiangsu Renmin chubanshe, 1986), p. 325.Google Scholar

33. Hunan province, Yeyang prefectural Party committee,“Need to develop a hierarchical system of small towns,” NYJJ, No. 8 (1984), pp. 16–18.

34. ZGTJNJ 1988, p. 97.

35. This is an extremely favourable estimate because the average population size of undesignated towns in 1985 in one of the economically most developed provinces Jiangsu-was about 4,500 people. See Xiaochengzhen quyu fenxi (A Regional Analysis of Small Towns) (Jiangsu: Tongji chubanshe, 1987), p. 238. I am indebted to David Zweig for providing a copy of this publication.Google Scholar

36. A Regional Analysis of Small Towns, p. 238.

37. For instance, in the first half of 1985, out of about 4,000 prospective migrants who wanted to resettle in Longgang town, Jiangsu province, only 515(13%) were given the permission to do so. Chundao, Cheng and Zhaojiang, Li.“A study of the situation of peasants entering towns in the town of Longgang,” Caijing kexue (Science of Finance and Economics), No. 6 (1985), p. 57.Google Scholar

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39. Su Zuqin,“A discussion about establishing the administrative structure in small towns,” ZGCZ, No. 3 (1987), pp. 29–30.

40. Zhou Yixing,“Suggestions on clarifying the concepts,” p. 11; and Su Zuqin,“A discussion about establishing the administrative structure in small towns,” p. 28.

41. Kang Jiusheng,“The proportion of urban population does not indicate the urbanization level,” ZGCZ, No. 1 (1987), p. 42.

42. Tan, K. C.,“Small towns in Chinese urbanization,” Geographical Review, No. 77 (1986), pp. 265–75;CrossRefGoogle Scholar and Tan, K. C.,“Revitalized small towns in China,” Geographical Review, No. 76 (1986), pp. 138–48.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

43. Ganyuan, Cheng,“On the legal management about administrative reformation in small towns,” Shehui kexue jikan (Journal of Social Sciences), No. 1 (1986), p. 217.Google Scholar